Search Results for: blog do you discipline your child in public

Taming the Preschool Beast

Nothing unleashes a preschooler’s inner beast quite like extracting him from a fun environment without advanced warning. When my daughter was 4 years old she had an epic outburst at a children’s museum in Chicago because I failed to give her proper notification of our departure.  In doing so, I robbed her of the gradual transition I knew she needed in order to calmly exit the building. The fit she threw nearly got us thrown out of the museum. Looking back, my preschooler’s tantrum, which included tossing her shoes down a slide, was simply her way of staying true to … Continue reading →

Somewhere in the Strict Zone

Time outs don’t work with my kid. Sorry, Supernanny. I understand the method behind the discipline technique and follow the directives explicitly; unfortunately, sitting in a chair and allowing my child to simply think about her poor behavior doesn’t yield positive results. So, what’s a parent to do? Ramp up the punishment? I am by no means a permissive parent, but I’m not a super strict one either. I’m somewhere in the strict zone hoping not to tip the scales too far in either direction. However, I am more concerned about entering the overly strict zone. I don’t want to … Continue reading →

The ABCs of ASDs

Has your child recently been diagnosed as having autism? Parents can find the jargon and abbreviations that are used by teachers and staff in a Special Education program to be confusing and overwhelming. Here is a quick list of definitions that make everything much clearer. Think of it as the ABCs of autism in a school environment. ABA: Applied Behavior Analysis It is a scientifically validated approach to understanding behavior and how it is affected by environment. This therapy can help children who have autism to pick up on the social cues that their peers, who do not have autism, … Continue reading →

Parenting Advice Challenges

You may think you have the absolute best parenting advice EVER to share with every mom and dad on the planet, but the fact is if said mother or father didn’t ask for your tips, it’s highly unlikely he or she is going to follow them. Unsolicited advice is invaluable advice. If you want to share your tried and true parenting techniques with other moms and dads, wait until you are asked.  Parents are more apt to follow advice if they are seeking it rather than having it forced down their throats.  What’s more, it’s important to remember that a … Continue reading →

D is for Discipline

A wise parent once told me that the primary purpose of discipline is to teach a lesson. Of course, some kids take longer to learn lessons than others. Consequently, if you are looking for instant results, you may be in for a frustrating haul. A series of recent events had me revisiting the discipline talk I had with said wise parent. My 8-year-old is killing me with her lies. Granted, most of the untruths she tells are minor, but at times her condition seems pathological. After brushing it off for a while, I decided that disciplining her was my only … Continue reading →

Are You Tired of Playing Referee?

Do you look good in stripes? Most women shun wearing clothing covered with unattractive lines, yet when they have kids it seems they are forced to don the referee uniform more than they would like. After a while, though, some refuse the task and leave it up to their warring offspring to solve their own disputes. How often do you allow your children to resolve their own clashes? Moreover, how often does the technique work? Personally, I am not opposed to having children resolve issues amongst themselves. However, I think you are kidding yourself if you think young children possess … Continue reading →

Discipline: Playing the Guessing Game

One of the toughest challenges of parenting is disciplining kids. And as if knowing, when, where, and how much to dole out weren’t tough enough, there are times when you are also forced to figure out who is responsible when more than one child is involved in an altercation, so that you are disciplining the right kid. For example, say you are making dinner in the kitchen while your kids are “playing” in the basement. Suddenly, your peaceful salad-making routine is shattered by your son screaming, “Moooooooom, she pushed me into the TV!” This is immediately followed by your daughter … Continue reading →

Phone Manners Matter

One of my biggest pet peeves is watching a young child beg for his mom or dad’s attention when said parent is talking on a cellphone, and then getting swatted away as though he were a pesky mosquito. Granted, most of the time I view these incidents, my daughter and I are at a park, restaurant or other public place, and I don’t know who is on the other end of the phone call. However, I still don’t think it is appropriate for the parent to walk away from his or her child, as though they weren’t related, just so … Continue reading →

Teaching Kids Self-Denial

I recently attended a symposium which featured a presentation by a childhood behavioral “expert.” Regular readers of this blog know how I feel about so-called “experts,” but this guy had a host of impressive credentials, not the least of which included raising eight children into incredibly successful young adults. Plus, I was very interested in his topic: “Teaching Kids the Art of Self-Denial.” According to the expert, one of the most important “gifts” you can give your child as he develops into an adult is to teach him or her to “routinely deny himself immediate pleasures to achieve future good.” … Continue reading →

You Can’t Always Take Their Side

As a parent you are always your child’s biggest champion. You want the to succeed, to feel good about their accomplishments, to be proud of the work they do. But what about when they make a mistake, what do you do then? I’m not talking about typical kid things, being mean to a sibling, not cleaning their room, I’m talking about larger issues. Recently another single mother had a problem with her teenager. It seems she wasn’t getting along with some of the girls in school and they had all started doing mean things to each other. In these days … Continue reading →